clinton's weblog of the present and near future

In the Fall, everyone was excited that this was finally the Flyers year. After season after season ranging from “almost” to “disaster” this was finally time for them to come through and make a run to the Stanley Cup. Then the regular season happened to erase all of our hopes and put the season into the “disaster” category. Falling behind 3-0 to the Bruins just confirmed that – BUT THEN – the greatest comeback in the history of earth put everything back on course. Last night, Michael Leighton carried the Flyers to a win that they have historically lost, and now they should go back to the Finals for the first time since 1997. I’m still not convinced they can beat Chicago or San Jose. It will depend on Leighton and whether or not he is the real deal. They do still need to get rid of Hartnell and upgrade some key positions. Let’s hope this run doesn’t convince Holmgren et al. that they don’t have to do anything during the offseason. All will be lost at that point.

In the fall, everyone expected the Sixers to suck. They did. My fear was that they didn’t suck enough. They finished with the sixth worst record in the league. That usually doesn’t result in winning the lottery. But last night was our lucky night, or as lucky as you can get during the playoffs for Sixers fans. With the second pick, they should end up getting Evan Turner from Ohio State.  If they trade Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert for a center, or cap space to get a center the roster would be pretty exciting.

Guards: Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Lou Williams

Forwards: Thaddeus Young, Elton Brand, Marreesse Speights and the Center they trade for.

Now, if Evan Turner turns out to be Jimmy Jackson the Sixers will continue to be irrelevant in front of 5,000 people a night for until the next time they win the lottery. But, if Turner is the next Brandon Roy this team can take a huge step forward.

Who in the East is really scary right now? LeBron is going to…? Rajon Rondo is great but the rest of the Celtics are old/role players. I hate Orlando and refuse to acknowledge them as significant. Chicago? Maybe.  The chance exists for the Sixers to contend. All they need is Evan Turner to be a transcendental superstar that carries them on his back like Jordan, Magic, Russell. That’s all. No pressure though.

Two days and 800 miles have landed me in Jacksonville Fl. Highlights of the trip thus far have been -
1. Buying gas 5 times.
2. Not being able to find any good CD’s at a Best Buy in Fredericksburg, Va. (but the did have 500 copies of Guns n Roses – Chinese Democracy out an on display)
3. Getting a ticket in Richmond and not seeing another cop the rest of trip.
4. Leaving the Shoney’s buffet unaffected.
5. Watching the Cleveland Cavaliers choke a series away and maybe lose LeBron James because of it. He did have a triple-double and everyone around him seemed to tighten up and miss shots before they took them, but if LeBron doesn’t win something soon everyone is going to start calling him Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone. I don’t think that is fair yet, but Jordan would’ve never lost to an old team that’s been done for two years.
6. The lovely view of Panda Express from the hotel window.
(Number seven will be missing the Flyers tonight when I can’t find anywhere to watch it.)

Tonight, the search is on for something I don’t regret eating and for someone that has ever seen a hockey game before.

UPDATE: 7:39 PM

Well, that was pointless…

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore;_ylt=ApP02RCddDYgvEprRi6tUIvezYd4?gid=2010051401

UPDATE 2: 10:04 PM

I can’t believe I’m stuck in Jacksonville. I had to listen the first two periods on my iPhone until I got to a crab shack to watch the third. I feel so disconnected. No sound on the tv and I’m the only one within a 600 mile radius that cares.
Still it’s the biggest win I’ve ever seen. It’s amazing that a team this bad could do it. They better not waste it and blow a series to Montreal. They don’t have to win the finals now, but they do have to get there.

On the unbelievability scale, a team as bad as this years Flyers team coming back from 3-0 down to tie a series ranks right up there with the best player in the NBA choking in the biggest game of the year at home. So yeah, things are happening. I still can’t fathom that they’ve done it and have all the momentum going into Friday night. I also feel a lot safer going to game 7 than I did earlier tonight. (See here)

In the morning, I am driving to Jacksonville for a wedding. I’m not sure if they know about hockey that far south, so right now, I’m just hoping that I’ll be able to find somewhere to watch game 7. Speaking of which, for the thousands that read this blog everyday, and the millions that read it almost everyday, I will attempt to post mobile updates of my trip down the east coast and provide a rare sampling of America that few get to experience.

It looks like Andre Miller is still a Sixer. Leaving last night’s game early couldn’t have helped improve his value. The Knicks on the other hand worked out two trades, getting Larry Hughes from the Bulls and Chris Wilcox from Oklahoma City. Have you noticed that they’re not even hiding the fact that their only goal as a franchise is clearing cap space for after next season to sign Lebron James. Half the league started doing this a year and a half ago. The Knicks at least are up front about. I wonder if this is what the league intended (multiple teams tanking for three+ years to sign a superstar) when they instituted their impossible to calculate cap. Now imagine if the Knicks don’t sign a superstar after next season. I know they probably will, but lets say something happens and it doesn’t work out. You’ve wasted the decade chasing a chance that got away.

Orlando, Houston and Memphis three-wayed a deal that sends Rafer Alston to the Magic and Kyle Lowry to Houston.

Sacramento completed an inconsequential deal, this time involving Minnesota. What was interesting is that they almost traded Andres Nocioni, whom they acquired yesterday, to Boston. But the length and finances of his contract killed negotiations in the end.  I’m still upset at the Kings for taking Sam Cassell from Boston. Who’s going to come off the bench, take bad shots and turn the ball over in the playoffs?

Interestingly, there was some Shaq to Cleveland discussions, but nothing materialized.

There will continue to be a few more deals that leak out involving 9th and 10th men on non-contenders. But I’m done worrying about that for now.